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Op-ed review: Presidential term extension, St. Macarius murder case

In the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper on Sunday, Makram Mohamed Ahmed opinionated that President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s term should be extended to six years instead of four in order for him to be able to complete the economic reform programme, but he also said that power should not exceed two presidential terms. Meanwhile, the murder case …

In the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper on Sunday, Makram Mohamed Ahmed opinionated that President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s term should be extended to six years instead of four in order for him to be able to complete the economic reform programme, but he also said that power should not exceed two presidential terms.

Meanwhile, the murder case of Bishop Epiphanius at St. Macarius Monastery continued to be a topic of debate in the Egyptian scene. Writing for the private Al-Shorouk newspaper, Sameh Fawzy made a few remarks on the case. First, he noticed that the issue is publicly discussed without old style sensitivity from the Coptic community. Second, the church joined other institutions which have tried to regulate and control members’ use of social media. Thirdly, the Muslim community has shown responsibility in supporting the unity of the church. Fawzy also pointed out that the events indicate the need for more dialogue and tolerance among different background communities.

Using the same incident, Medhat Beshay in Al-Masry Al-Youm tackled the setback of enlightening the religious discourse, highlighting the importance of plurality and dialogue around different ideas, as he pointed out that the murdered bishop represented the “progressive current” in the church.

On a different note, also in Al-Ahram, Sherif Abdeen criticised price hikes of hotels and touristic resorts, accusing their owners of greed and desperate attempts to compensate their losses during the years of the tourism crisis that followed the 2011 revolution. Abdeen said five-star hotels are insanely increasing their prices despite the fact that the state has provided them with financial facilitations so that they remain in business.

From a socio-economic perspective in the privately-owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, Samir Marcus commented on a recent controversial issue about minors in Port Said who were arrested on smuggling charges. The writer argued that a video interview in which they were featured shed light on complex social issues related to fighting poverty, urban movement in the quest for income, black market problems, and other issues.